Piero Bottoni
Born in Milan in 1903. He graduated from the School of Architecture at the Milan Polytechnic in 1926. He was among the protagonists of the Italian Rationalism and a founding member of the Milan-based Miar group, taking part in the Rationalist Architecture Expositions in Rome in 1928 and 1931. He was an Italian delegate at the International Congress of Modern architecture; as such, he helped drafting “Athens Charter” in 1933. He participated in many of the key architecture and planning competitions of the 1930s, constantly seeking new furniture and decorating solutions.
In 1945 the CLN appointed him Special Commissioner for the 8th Triennale; he promoted the studies for the construction of an experimental district, QT8, in Milan. At the same time, he was one of the directors of Metron magazine; in 1946 he was one of the founders of the Architecture Studios Movement. Starting from 1953 he was in the board of the National Town Planning Institute. During the last few decades of his career the pedagogical vocation which had always featured his work led Bottoni to get more involved in the teaching activity that was prevented to him during the Fascist age. He died in Milan in 1973.
